Disinfectant and disinfectant cleaner compositions that effectively kill bacteria and viruses on a variety of surfaces are known in the art. These disinfectant compositions often contain well known classes of active ingredients such as alcohols, phenols, quaternary ammonium compounds, halogens, peroxides and acids. It is also known that certain actives kill a broad spectrum of organisms whereas others are limited in the types of organisms they kill. Also, certain organisms are sensitive to certain actives and physical conditions. The selection of actives and combination of actives for disinfecting is dependent primarily on the target organisms.
There are many common organisms in the environment, which are capable of causing infection. Among these are Salmonella choleraesuis, E. coli and Staphylococcus aureus, which are known to cause food poisoning, and Rhinovirus, which is the most significant cause of the common cold. Rhinovirus is a non-enveloped virus and is not readily inactivated by many common disinfecting compositions.
Most disinfectant compositions on the market today kill microorganisms on surfaces when applied and allowed to remain in contact for a specific time, typically 30 seconds to 10 minutes. However, after effectively killing those organisms present, the disinfectant does not typically persist on the surface. Normal stresses to the surface, like rinsing, repeated touching or wiping with a cloth, tend to physically remove any residual disinfectant ingredients from the surface. As a result, if the surface becomes recontaminated again the disinfectant must be re-applied to kill the newly deposited organisms.
It would be beneficial, particularly as a means of reducing the chance of infection, to have a disinfectant product that not only kills microorganisms on contact but also remains on the surface to continue to kill microorganisms that may subsequently recontaminate the surface. This invention relates to improvements in disinfectant and disinfectant cleaner compositions that are not only effective in killing microorganisms on contact but also provide a residual activity against microorganisms for a period of time thereafter under normal in-use conditions.
Others have investigated actives that separately eliminate the common cold virus and disinfectants that remain on the surface to provide residual activity. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,828,912 and 4,975,217, both assigned to Kimberly-Clark, disclose compositions comprising a certain concentration of acids such as citric and an anionic surfactant effective in killing Rhinovirus on skin. The composition can be incorporated into a variety of products for immediate virucidal activity but no long lasting activity is provided.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,767,788 to Diana discloses virucidal processes and compositions for inactivating Rhinovirus by contacting the virus with an effective amount of glutaric acid. Therein, it is disclosed that the virucidal effect only lasts up to 6 hours but does not include stresses of repeated wear or subsequent inoculations which would be expected under normal use conditions.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,034,133 to Hendley et al discloses a hand lotion composition contains organic acids, such as citric and malic acids, and a C1-6 alcohol and claims to kill rhinovirus and halt the hand to hand transmission of the virus. Therein, it is stated that frequent application of the composition will prevent hand to hand transmission of Rhinovirus, suggesting no residual activity rather than limited residual activity.
Published patent application WO 00/00026 to P&G discloses a premoistened wipe containing an organic acid and surfactant to give residual antimicrobial activity provided a specific amount of the organic acid and surfactant remain on the treated surface. Residual activity is claimed when treated surfaces are challenged only one time with a test organism. The efficacy under more practical conditions, such as repeated bacterial challenges or physical wear, over a 24 hour time period was not addressed. No additional agent which would facilitate keeping the active ingredient(s) on the surfaces is provided. There is no mention of residual virucidal activity.
In U.S. Pat. No. 6,270,754, Zhou et al. disclose an antibacterial cleaning composition, which shows germicidal activity for sustained periods of time. The composition includes a quaternary ammonium compound and an anionic polymer which form a polymer complex to provide sustained germicidal activity for the surface. The invention does not claim sustained virucidal activity. It is also known in the art quaternary ammonium compounds do not inactivate Rhinovirus. 
Thus, there is a need for a composition that not only kills microorganisms, like the common cold virus, Staphylococcus aureus, or Streptococcus, on contact but also persists on surfaces to continue killing microorganisms which may be repeatedly deposited on said surfaces for an extended period of time. Compositions which can also provide a cleaning benefit are also desired. Methods of treating surfaces with these compositions are also important.